Team Kitten
Chapter 1 March 25 Hi guys, I'm sorry this letter took so long to write. We just got to camp, it's really been rough. The Nexus Force has finally decided where our group is staying for training. They had a big fuss over it, arguing and screaming. They got over it, and we're all fine. I got my first taste of 'Nexus Force Treasure' earlier. It is nasty smelling and I'm not sure if you would call it food. It could be some kind of green soup, but I can't be sure. Still, people around here treat it like it's the best they have ever tasted. I haven't tried it yet, I have the silly worry of some weird monster is going to pop out of it. Mom, I much prefer your home cooking. Just the thought of your stew makes my mouth water. Sooner or later I will have to eat, though. June, sis, I hope you aren't touching my stuff. You know how I feel about that, and if you are…I'll get ya! Also, our group is called, 'The Kittens.' Truthfully, that's just cruel. I guess it's because we're the new guys and all that. But still. There are a bunch of funny peeps with us, but I don't really know any of them yet. Guess I'll find out. Again, I'm sorry this took so long to write, and I hope I didn't worry you guys. I will write every day, although it probably won't arrive until two or three days later. I'll leave a date at the top to show when I wrote it. Far away and (Hopefully) much loved brother/son, Damian Damian scribbled his name at the end, smiling as he did so. He knew his family would enjoy his touches of humor and would be glad he decided to write to them. The papers were severely crumpled and, try as he might; he couldn't get wrinkles out before he gave up and folded it. He stood up from the old log of a broken tree and stuffed it into his small backpack to be sent to his family later. The sky was shrouded with dark, threating clouds, looming above Damian's head. He looked up and pushed his hair back. He was sure just a minute ago it was clear skies. He shook his head sadly, and dashed forward to find his group's tent. Chapter 2 March 26 Deer (Is that right, or is it dear?) Mom, I'm currently writing this while hanging upside down. Don't ask. However, since I'm tied here, I guess I got out of training today. So it's not all bad. I haven't talked to any of my teammates from group kitten yet, they came back sore and tired, and I bet they didn't notice me dangling here. Not sure I have much to write about today, as I'm sure describing being yelled at to wake up a five isn't the best letter. Our coach isn't the best. He wears an old blue uniform. One I can swear has never been washed. Anyhow, best of luck to you, Mom and June. I'll probably have more to write once I figure out how to cut myself down. The very upside down and hopefully missed, Damian Damian was holding the piece of paper flat in one hand, and the pencil in another. It was true he was upside down, some bullies from 'Team Tiger' thought the group's name was funny and tied his foot to a tree. He drew a smiley face next to his name, but it ended up lopsided because the paper slipped. "Alright," he muttered, folding the slightly messed up paper and shoving it up into his pants pocket. He looked up to his feet, which were tied tightly together with clean white rope. He tried to yank himself up time after time to cut himself down, but he failed each time, not having enough strength. Twenty minutes later he was hanging, still upside down, by his feet, rain drenching his face. He scowled. Training hadn't even begun. Chapter 3 Damian watched the sun rise in the morning, slowly creeping over the wide variety of tents scattered across the ground. It would have been beautiful, had he been upright. Those 'Tigers' sure knew their knots. "Having fun?" A man asked, walked up to Damian. He slicked back his lengthy brown hair and straitened his deep blue shirt. "I guess so," Damian muttered, trying to twist around to see who was talking. "Well, don't," the man snarled, snatching a knife from his belt and slashing the rope. It snapped just above Damian's feet and sent him crashing to the ground. Head first. He clutched his head, but sat up anyways. "You're late." Damian looked up to see it was the training officer, Bane. He sheepishly smiled, but stood up. "Sir, it's not my fault! I was tied there!" "Man up," Bane says, walking away. "Time. Give me push-ups!" His voice shocks Damian into doing it. ---- March 27 Hi. I'm doing okay. I had a bad day. Sorry. Love, Damian. Chapter 4 March 28 Hi, guys, Sorry for yesterday's letter. I worked all day; the coach certainly didn't like me. His name's Bane. Sure a grumpy one. However, I'm writing this before morning comes, so I'm guaranteed to have time to finish! Hey, June, how are things going on back there? I'm sure they are the same as usual, but I'm bored. And I miss home. Ya know? Home cooked meals, friends, being able to keep you outta my room! I'm just kidding, just I miss you all. So far I've missed all the food, not that I'm upset by it. Though I'm starving now. I was gonna wait until maybe the changed to some new food, other than 'Nexus Force Treasures', but they won't. I guess that's all they serve. Anyhow, I met a couple of the 'Kittens.' One was very odd girl, who refused to tell me her name. She was funny in a way, with mystery covering her. Another was a guy named Micle. And yet another was a girl named Magma. She's kind of silly, so I guess I'll see if she can even manage the training. There are others in the group, but a couple of people have just joined yesterday, so I haven't had time to speak with them yet. All-a-righty, I got to go. Please write back soon, I know you are all busy, and probably don't have time, but I'm getting lonely. Signed, Damian. ---- The trumpets blared, signaling morning has arrived. Damian rolled out of his bed, watching the rest of his team follow in the same suit. He stuffed the letter in his pocket to be sent in the mail later. The guy, whose name Damian had learned was Micle, continued to lie in bed for a second before leaping out of the thin covers unexpectedly. He is disoriented for a second, but regained his balance and dashes after his bags to avoid being late. After looking through a series of red books he jumbled them all in his orange pack and ran out the team's tent. "What's his hurry?" A girl noted, gently zipping up her backpack. She pushed her dark brown out of her face from sleeping and pulled an odd black and purple helmet over her face. Several other people added their comments in, but Damian didn't listen. He got up early to write his paper, and now he slowly drifted off to sleep.... Chapter 5 "What are you doing? Get up!" Bane's voice rocketed through the air, startling Damian to his feet. He dizzily realized he is the only one left in his tent. "You're ten minutes late," the Coach growled. Damian scrambled out of the entrance, seeing Team Kitten already getting ready to eat breakfast, several were complaining about the food, but the rest were sitting at the old broken tables. Damian charged over, trying to scarf something quickly, he grabs a plate, slamming himself down at the table. "I bet I can!" a girl boasted about something, the same girl who refused to tell him her name. She smiled slyly, getting a twinkle in her eye. "Well, don't, that'll only get Bane mad," A kid said, he's probably the youngest on the team. He shook his head which bounced his spikey hair back and forth. He glanced over at Damian who was struggling to open a small package. "What's your name?" "Damian," he mumbled, bringing the gray package to his teeth and trying to tear it open. "Mines Wenjun," the kid muttered, putting his spoon back into his bowl with a disgusted look. "Okay, I can't eat this, see you all later. I'm going to get an early start." With several nods and a couple good-byes the kid left, leaving the rest of the team in silence. "Ya know, I wonder what they make this out of…" A teenager mentioned, pulling up his bent spoon and pouring the nasty smelling food out the side. "Anyways, I'd rather not call you all 'you' the whole time we're here. I'm Awesome. What are your names?" He had a blue and yellow helmet over his head which was adorned with two horns sticking out the side of it. "Reminal," a girl said, her long brown hair was braided neatly together. "Micle," a guy muttered, his head buried in a book, but Damian already knew his name. He is dressed in an orange shirt which had short sleeves and white edges around the sides. "Should I? Alright, I guess," A girl grins mischievously. "Penelope." "Finally!" Damian exclaimed, trying to put on the same smile she had. "Magma," The last girl mouths, giggling. She had nice, curly golden hair and sparkling blue eyes. The rest of her, however, might be deceiving. She was adorned with weapons including a short sword, a barbed whip and a spear which was attached to her back and bobbled as she moved. Even her shirt meant business. It was linked together with small metal chain which lay over supple brown leather. "That-" Damian started, about to comment how everyone was staring at her, but was cut off. "Let's go! Time's up!" Bane called, motioning them to come over. Chapter 6 March 29 Hi, I'm very….very tired. We went through our training today, and yesterday. It's the end of the day now, so I'm writing this before jumping off to bed. Yesterday was a lot of team work with the rest of Team Kitten. They found out what our weaknesses and strengths were; how to cover each other and such. Today was another subject. We worked on drills all day, and since I know June is standing there, reading this, hoping for details, I guess I'll give them. First off they gave us each a sword. Wenjun (A guy in our group) seemed to have perfect mastery over this. He wielded it with such ease…While me? I dropped it on my toe. June, it's not funny! Next they had us do push-ups and sit-ups and the like. That was my favorite part. Bane didn't have much to yell at us about. Then they handed me a gun. Boy, they shouldn't have done that. I almost hit Micle in the back of the head. He had some words for me about the hole in his little orange helmet…. Love, Damian Chapter 7 "Morning," Bane said in his emotionless way as the team rolled out of their beds, including Damian. "You've got a new teammate. Don't kill 'em – yet." With a surprising amount of speed, Bane fled the room. "Hiya," A boy said, scratching the back of his head. He smiled gently, which caused a deep, red scar to wrinkle a bit. With murmurs of sleepy hellos and a couple of informal welcomes, the group prodded him for his name. "Cyrill," He announced, swinging his hands loosely at his sides. He dropped a few bags on the floor and yawned, making it apparent he hadn't gotten much sleep. Damian's jaw dropped as he realized it was yet again another team member who already had their faction gear. Cyrill was a buccaneer, covered in brown and green gear from head to toe. He looked down at his shabby blue and white uniform which had a faded out Nexus Force symbol on it. Cyrill eyed Damian with his murky black eyes. "Ready?" "Yeah," Damian muttered, marching out of the tent. Micle, Magma, and Penelope followed, the rest lingering behind for their own purposes. Bane, with a quick hand wave, motioned for the four to come over. Damian uncertainly did, stumbling his way over, head full of sleep. Chapter 8 Damian smiled as Bane started to explain that they can pick their own weapons for this exercise. He immediately floated over to a section with some metal bows and their collection of arrows. He grabbed the longest one and ran his hands smoothly over the surface; it was slick and cool. He fingered the tips gently. "Archery, huh?" Reminal said, sliding over quietly with the rest of the group who had come after. Magma produced the spear from behind her and pretended to follow Damian's movements of fingering the tip. She giggled and then busied herself with talking to Bane. Damian sighed and nodded solemnly, thinking back to when he used to use it for fun. Now it would become a weapon. Awesome produced a sword from…Damian looked around. The shelves of equipment had nothing of a sword to be shown. He wondered if Awesome had it with him the entire time. The samurai swung the blade about a few times and smiled at the confused look on everyone's faces. Damian lifted the bow up high; for some reason everyone was watching him like a hawk. Was it because he was the only one with a bow? Or was it because they were waiting for him to produce another laughable mistake? Penelope grappled a small brown gun from her belt and inspected it. She glanced at Damian as if it were a challenge. Damian raised one eyebrow but raised the bow next to him and started to pull the string back. Off in the distance was a purple dummy, as if to replicate a Maelstrom Stromling. In the middle were three rows of targets, each one a different color signifying if you have smashed him or not. Damian heaved a breath, feeling the string at his fingertips, the arrow lying in front of him, the wind whipping through his hair…. Bang! Penelope pressed the trigger, her shot going straight and true. Befuddled, Damian released the string with a twang, but his distracted mind aimed to far to the left. Penelope pushed back her long black hair and said something, but Bane was already barking orders about not wasting time. "Now come on, let's go! You better find the rest of your team, Kittens," Bane instructed gruffly, pointing a finger at their tent where Micle, Wenjun, and Cyrill hadn't appeared. Chapter 9 Damian jogged back to their tent, finally reaching it. He threw himself inside, expecting to find the three lazing around. But no, they weren't there. "Where could they have gone?" Awesome asked, coming up from behind and putting one arm over Damian's shoulder. "Maybe they went somewhere else to train," Damian said, holding the bow at his side and fingering an arrow with his other hand. "Or maybe they were showing Cyrill around." After a whirl of possible solutions to their disappearance, the entire team agreed upon looking for them. Penelope and Reminal in one group, and Damian, Awesome, and Magma in another. Bane instructed them that this was their first assignment, and when the team questioned whether Bane did this on purpose or not, he denied it. Penelope and Reminal seemed satisfied that they were put together, but Damian wasn't exactly sure about his group. They didn't seem to be serious enough. Penelope and Reminal walked off in the distance, while Magma suggested that they look at the north of the camp. Chapter 10 Damian pushed back the flap of a tent to peek inside, but he knew it was futile. The three had been gone for hours. Awesome and Magma appeared next to him with inquisitive eyes. "Nothing," Damian said, scratching the back of his neck idly. "Well…what now? Should we go back to Bane?" Awesome asked, fixing his crooked helmet back firmly on his head. "I think so," Magma replied, turning around abruptly and heading off into the distance. Sighing, Damian followed her, only to find Reminal sitting on the ground infront of their path. Her dark hair lay tangled over her shoulder as she glanced up at Damian. Damian blinked a few times. Now why was she sitting around? "Have you guys seen Penelope?" Reminal asked, apparently bored; she must have sat there for a long time. "No, why?" "She told me to stay here while she went to look at something. She hasn't come back yet," Reminal replied, massaging her temples. She snatched up her black helm from beside her and stuffed it on her head. Damian pushed his hair back and scowled. He didn't even need to say it. Everyone nodded in agreement. She was missing too. Chapter 11 Reminal glanced around wearily, as if expecting something to grab her too. "What now?" She asked, biting her lip. "Let's stick together," Magma said, and everyone agreed in a round of nods and voiced approval. Damian scratched his head and scanned from side to side. "Well, let's wait here." The four ended up doing similarly to what Reminal was doing. Sitting there, waiting for something to happen, or for Bane to come around. Damian pulled another piece of slightly worn paper from his backpack. He stared at it, wondering what to write that wouldn't scare June. March 30 Hi Mom, hi June. Today we had some good training, they even had a bow, just like we used to, sis. What's going on there? I'm sure it's more exciting than what is here. Did you ever get that fox out of the yard? ---- Damian placed the pencil next to him and stopped to stare at the paper. He really should tell them about what's going on. He pulled the paper onto his lap and began to write again in his scribbling handwriting. ---- You guys ought to see the base here. It's like an ant hill, people moving constantly in, and out. I'm pretty sure the entire camp moves too. Like the tents. Every time I come back, it's in a different place, and the furniture is rearranged. Alright, I am going to go. Love ya, Damian. Chapter 12 Damian brushed off his filthy paper and threw it into his backpack to send later, hoping it wouldn't get too crushed. He glanced over, hoping Bane was nearby, but was disgusted to learn Reminal wasn't next to him like she was earlier. "Where'd she go?" Damian leapt to his feet, yelling. How could she possibly have moved if they were all right there? Awesome blinked, whirling around in a circle before adjusting his helmet. "Reminal? Magma? Eek! They're both gone! We're next!" Awesome then glided over to Damian and wrapped his arm around his. "They can't take both of us!" His helmet slid down the side of his head again, and he gently pushed it back into place. "Ya know, I've been wondering. What if they all just got up and wandered away. By themselves?" The samurai blinked, but admitted, he had also thought of it. Damian opened his mouth wide to say more, but something brushed against his back. He turned to see if it was maybe Micle or Penelope, but he faced straight at the blank eyes of a bone wolf. Mouth still gaped open in a wide circle, Damian grabbed Awesome and made a run for it in the opposite direction. Chapter 13 The strange, bony creature dove after the two, quiet as night. Its stealthy paws leaped up through the air, tackling Awesome to the ground. The samurai drew his sword, desperately trying to slash upwards at the beast. Damian locked an arrow in his fingers and held the bow, drawing back the string, aiming for the eye. He fingered the tip, and then let the arrow whiz through the air, striking its target. The wolf howled with pain before leaping backwards from Awesome, who scrambled to his feet. The wolf, not to be outdone, cast away its agony and charged after Damian. Damian froze, the smile still on his face after freeing Awesome. It took him a couple of seconds to process that the beast was after him now. His grin slowly sank into a frown as he flung the bow over his shoulder and started to take a mad attempt at dashing away. "Let's go!" Damian shouted to Awesome who was fumbling with his sword. The samurai looked up, probably surprised that the beast wanted to continue to attack even with a strike to the eye. Awesome nodded and leapt forward, dashing past tents with the wolf howling behind them. Sadly, they were the only ones there. This begged the question. Where did the rest of the Nexus Force troops go? Chapter 14 Damian loaded another arrow as he dashed wildly about the camp, trying to fend off the beast. When he got too close Damian would smack him in the nose with a solid punch or a sharp sting of the end of his bow. But he knew he couldn't keep it up forever. Awesome, being far ahead and trying to get some spears down from a rack, was panting heavily and having to drag himself everywhere. Damian, with the beast at his heels, trying to chomp on him, was about to fall over. Damian twisted and flung another arrow at the wolf, but it dodged the piercing projectile after learning its last lesson. Only one arrow left. The bony beast pounced on Damian, pummeling him to the ground and repeatedly snapping at him. He swung his bow up, hoping to push him away and get to space to wiggle out of the wolf's grasp, but the beast snapped the weapon in half with its crushing jaws. Damian gulped, shielded his face, and waited for the worst. "Give me that!" Someone shouted and there was a sound of shuffling and a couple cries of agony. The creature peeked his head up from Damian and glanced warily around. In the next few seconds there was confusion, right up until a spear jutted through the bone wolf and he stumbled to the side. Chapter 15 "Way to go Awesome!" Damian whooped, scrambling to his feet backwards away from the wolf, which lay on his side, unmoving. "You're handy with that spear, you should…" Damian turned to see Awesome collapsed on the floor, the spears he was going to throw in the hands of a stranger. One other man stood there, besides the one with the weapons in his hands, the other was pinning Awesome down with his hand over the samurai's neck. Awesome gasped for air as he tried to shake the man off. Damian snatched his bow up, loaded his last arrow, and shot it at the man, hoping that even if he missed, he would knock him off. The man simply dismissed the projectile with a flick of his shield which batted it away. "What are you going to do now?" He asked, gesturing towards the other man who was aiming a spear at him. "Uh…" Damian moaned, realizing he was now weaponless. "We're all in the Nexus Force, why attack us?" He whimpered. "Haven't had anything to do, well, until half the base disappeared, and the rest ran away like cowards. Figured since you guys were still here, you'd put up a fun fight. I guess not though…heh," he hissed, fighting off Awesome who was scrambling to pull the man's hands away. He glanced up for a brief moment, and then did something of a double-take. "Ha! Team Kitten? I remember you; we tied you to a tree!" He threw his hands up and chuckled. Though humiliated, Damian was at least glad Awesome got a swift breath of air. "Well, don't fight us, fight the Maelstrom!" Awesome choked out, which got everyone's attention since he was still supposed to be thirsty for air. "There's no Maelstrom to fight!" He snorted. As if on some creepy cue something breathed on the back of his neck, and he slowly turned around to face it, stepping off of Awesome and putting up fists. A purple and black beast stared upwards at him, face dripping with vile goo, and orange beady eyes bulging. Its mouth frowned, scowled, and then opened into a piercing shriek. Chapter 16 The man leaped off of Awesome, stumbled forward, and motioned for his other teammate to follow. He dropped his shield as dashed forward. "Let's go!" The other nodded and threw a spear at the beast, but it grabbed the disregarded shield and winked it aside. Damian collected a spare arrow from the ground. He looked back and forth between the creature and the fleeing twosome of Team Tiger. Awesome took off without questioning. If Team Tiger thought that direction was safest, who was he to argue? Damian trailed. They all fled, leaving the creature standing there dumbfounded for a moment, before limping after them. Team Tiger crawled behind a tent, and glanced at the two members of Team Kitten who were glued to their sides. "Allies?" The man with the spears asked, and needing no further convincing, Awesome and Damian agreed silently with a bob of their heads. "Split up?" Awesome suggested, prying a spear out of the man's hands to use for himself. "Suppose. Each run in a different direction. Always works!" Damian said, leaving it up to everyone else to decide which way they were going to go. They each took off; leaving the approaching creature confused, until he decided enough was enough and called in friends. Chapter 17 Damian dove behind a tree and wiped the sweat from his face. He glanced around, waiting to see if the creature followed him, or someone else. The creature came slinking in on its two bony legs, slightly dragging its feet as it approached him. "I've got him over here!" Damian called to his team and allies, so they wouldn't have to worry where he was. Truthfully, he hadn't needed to run, the creature was so slow. He loaded an arrow to prepare to take the Maelstrom beast down, but a shriek stopped him. "He's over here!" Awesome's voice rang out in a terrified yelp. "What?" Damian mumbled. He was most certainly not by Awesome. It was standing right here, glaring at him. "What do you mean?" He said louder, still holding the arrow, but the creature decided to wait and not move. Best to save it. "There's more than one!" One of team tiger's members shouted and there was the sound of gruff gasps and clanging metal. With that, Damian simply kicked his approaching enemy with a boot in the face, and sped towards his allies once again. Now that they were scattered, they'd be easy prey. Chapter 18 He dashed towards Awesome first, since he was making terrible, agonized noises. Instead of valiantly rushing in and bashing down the enemy like he pictured it, Damian tripped on a bad discarded by some who had probably fled the camp. His eyes gazed over what he had tripped on, but it was just a pile of Nexus Force mail. Junk. He turned to continue to his friend, his teammate when something caught his eye. His name. Damian dropped back to his knees and snatched up the letter. It was crisp white with frilly, yet neat handwriting. Selfish! He mentally yelled at himself. Awesome was fighting off two guys now…and not very far in distance. Damian should've thrown the letter in his pack and leave to help…but something held him. He ripped open the top, and saw it was from June. He quickly scanned over it. Damian. If you're writing something, I guess it hasn't come yet. I know you joined so I wouldn't have to be recruited to the Nexus Force, but there's a new rule. I'm required to join now. They are sending me to the same camp, so at least we'll be able to see each other. It won't be too bad. I was going to surprise you, but I thought I'd at least let you know I'd be joining the war too. News is, it's gotten bad. Just spare Mother from knowing. She has no idea yet. Love, June. Chapter 19 Damian stared at the paper blankly. She was coming to join this mess? Still, there were the raspy cries from Awesome, and Damian couldn't ignore them any longer. He stuffed the paper in his pack with no regard on how wrinkled it was going to be, and dashed after his ally. ---- Micle and Wenjun tramped through unfamiliar woods, Wenjun traveling lightly while Micle paid slightly less attention to the sounds his feet were making. Micle adjusted his orange helmet and looked up at his partner from his hands, where his eyes had been glued. "I think we've gone in a circle," he announced loudly, stopping abruptly. "What do you mean? How could we have…?" Wenjun asked, his head bobbing around. Micle simply pointed to the ground, where just ahead of them were compressed plants and damaged mud. "We were already here. See, right there?" Wenjun scratched his head, and then shook it, shaking free his messy hair. He sighed and spoke through it, "Where now? This forest looks all the same." "Well, you see, if we can just follow the slope of…" Micle started but was immediately cut off by his friend. "Oh, I don't care about that mumbo-jumbo; just get us out of here. I feel like I'm being watched." Category:Stories Based on New Characters Category:Current Gameplay Era Category:Stories Based on Players